Brookstone's Frog-O-Sphere Supplier Exposed

[Ed. Note: Victory - Brookstone STOPS Selling Frog-O-Spheres, January 2011.]

FROM People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)

Tell Brookstone to stop selling live animals.

CONTACT

Sign an online petition here

And/Or better yet, make direct contact:

Ronald Boire
President and CEO, Brookstone, Inc.
1 Innovation Way
Merrimack, NH 03054
phone (603) 880-9500
fax (603) 577-8005
website email form

INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS

Brookstone's response to some complaints:

Dear Brookstone Customers:

Recently there have been public comments concerning the Brookstone Frog-O-Sphere.

Frog-O-Sphere has generated an overwhelmingly positive response from our customers. Thousands of people have adopted these amazing mini-ecosystems and welcomed their pet frogs into their homes and classrooms.

While we respect the right of all groups to express their views, we at Brookstone are happy that Frog-O-Sphere is bringing the joy of pet ownership to families and students across the country, and will continue to offer Frog-O-Sphere.

Brookstone provides all our staff and customers with detailed care instructions for our frogs, and have designated at least one Frog-O-Sphere specialist in each store to ensure that frogs receive proper care.

We thank everyone for their interest, enthusiasm and purchases of Frog-O-Spheres, and hope that you both enjoy owning your new pets and use Frog-O-Sphere as a starting point for learning about life in ecosystems.

Sincerely,

Brookstone Customer Service

Information from PETA:

Since June 2009, complaints have poured in to PETA about the tens of thousands of African dwarf frogs and snails peddled in malls across America by Brookstone, Inc., in tiny plastic boxes, which have been deemed "unacceptable in failing to meet the basic requirements for good animal husbandry" by experts. The boxes are far too small, and they force these nocturnal animals to live deprived of shelter, a place to hide, and everything else that is natural and important to them.

In November 2009, PETA went undercover at Wild Creations, the company that supplies "Frog-O-Spheres" to Brookstone. PETA’s investigator documented the rampant neglect and mishandling of these delicate animals and total disregard for their needs, welfare, and lives―an attitude that trickled down from the company's co-owner to company supervisors and employees. PETA's investigator found the following:

Employees handled and packaged thousands of frogs, grabbing them by the handful and picking them up by pinching their delicate legs. Bags of "replacement frogs"—shipped to customers whose frogs had died soon after purchase—were thrown carelessly into bins by the dozen. Wild Creations prepares and ships up to 100 "replacement frogs" each day.
Hundreds of frogs were crammed into plastic tubs. The unfiltered water grew increasingly murky with excrement and molted skin as days passed before the frogs were removed and packaged inside the so-called "ecosystems" in which they are sold.

Weeks passed before PETA's investigator—who worked full-time—saw any of the frogs kept at the Wild Creations warehouse being fed. When customers complained of frogs with "leg deformities," a call from Wild Creations to the California-based frog breeder revealed that the frogs were so starved that they were chewing on each others' legs, causing wounds, infections, and, eventually, rot and loss of the limb (apparently, that's what it took for Wild Creations to start feeding the frogs regularly).

No training was provided to employees. Live frogs were mistaken for dead, tossed into the trash, and/or dropped on the floor and left to die.

Frogs suspected of being sick were mistakenly shipped to customers instead of being properly quarantined, as were frogs who were plucked from tubs containing the bloated, fungus-covered remains of decomposing frogs. A Brookstone manager in Fairfax, Virginia, confirmed that frogs at her store frequently suffered from fungal skin infections and routinely died.

Thank you for everything you do for animals!